The Scottish government and COSLA have published a new strategy setting an ambition that the 90,000 people living with dementia and their carers should have access to high-quality advice, and evidence-based treatment, care and support delivered by people with the highest quality dementia specialist education and training.

The 10-year strategy 'Everyone's Story' sets out the difference that needs to be made in joined up policy and delivery, to reduce stigma around dementia and equip people with understanding of how they can improve their brain health.

The first of a series of two-year delivery plans, which will include actions to reduce barriers to diagnosis and accessing appropriate care, is promised by the end of the year.

The Scottish government says the strategy is the result of eight months of engagement with individuals and organisations across Scotland and is backed by a review of evidence around dementia, health inequalities and research into approaches taken to dementia care in other countries.

The charity, Age Scotland, says the government was right to develop their vision alongside people with lived experience, and to use the stories of people with dementia and their unpaid carers throughout the document.

Age Scotland's Head of Dementia Dr Kainde Manji says the commitments within the strategy represent an extremely positive step towards ensuring people with dementia and their unpaid carers get the support they deserve:

“The importance of community-based approaches came up time and time again during our engagement work, so it’s heartening to see a strategy which features such strong recognition of the role that Dementia Friendly Communities and Meeting Centres play in post-diagnostic support.

“Ultimately, the proof will be in the implementation of the strategy and how it delivers for those living with dementia and their carers.

“It is vital that we get that right, and we welcome the opportunity to be part of the strategy’s delivery group. Alongside our members, we look forward to our continued work with the Scottish government to ensure the ambitions outlined become a reality."

Scotland's mental wellbeing minister Maree Todd says the dementia strategy seeks to set out what can be done to make a difference to people's lives:

“Diagnosis can bring significant mental health and wellbeing challenges that need to be acknowledged and addressed to ensure a person’s rights are upheld. That’s why the strategy was developed in collaboration with the National Dementia Lived Experience Panel. We want everyone affected to be involved in its delivery.”

The strategy acknowledges the pace of clinical research in Scotland and the rest of the world in developing medicines to slow or modify symptoms of dementia which has taken us ‘to the cusp of a new generation of treatments’. It says strides in brain imaging and accuracy of diagnosis have also been made, with the ability of delivering accurate and timely diagnosis.

However, the strategy also says many people with dementia face significant waiting times for assessment, and the absence of a seamless diagnostic pathway acts as a barrier to early diagnosis and treatments; while inconsistent approaches to commissioning and delivery of post-diagnostic support means that people may not receive the support they need, when they need it.

A key difference the strategy recognises needs to be made is to ensure people living with dementia and care partners have opportunities to participate in research, including informing and designing research. It commits to working together with, and supporting, Scotland’s research and academic communities to inform the delivery of the strategy.

The Health and Social Care Spokesperson for local government organisation COSLA, Councillor Paul Kelly, says partnership working will be central to achieving the goals being set out:

“We welcome this strategy as it rightly challenges us to do more and go even further, to continue to improve the care and support for people living with dementia and their care partners.

“Delivering it will require us all to continue to work collaboratively in a positive and proactive manner, while respecting each other’s different experiences of dementia.”

The strategy published today is Scotland’s fourth national dementia strategy.

Ministers point out that Scotland has, over two decades, been at the forefront of best practice, from setting up the Scottish Dementia Working Group in 2001 – the first dementia lived experience group in the world – and making dementia a national clinical priority in 2007, through the world's first Brain Health and Dementia Strategy in 2021 and the creation of Brain Health Scotland, set up to give people advice on reducing their risks of developing a neurodegenerative disease.

Read more: Heart drugs show promise in stroke-linked dementia; Dementia: a treatable condition of midlife; Briefing: Scotland’s ‘new story’ for dementia policy;  Edinburgh team show how Alzheimer’s spreads

Sign up to our bulletin for key health & social care updates straight to your inbox and you can follow healthandcare.scot on Google News.